It has been requested of me to write a post on the homeless people we see all around town, so, being the good natured person that I am, I figured I would oblige this request.

First of all, to anyone who hasn’t been to Tampa, FL, I’m not sure you know how bad the homeless problem is here. Unless maybe you live in another big city, but I digress. If you drive down any street around here, especially one leading to a major interstate or US Highway, you will most likely see people begging on the median for change (and not the kind Obama offered!) I do like that the city makes them wear bright yellow and orange caution vests so I don’t hit them in the road. Sometimes, they offer you something for your change- like a bottle of water or the Sunday paper or some flowers. This is actually respectable, I think. Newsies back in the day were pretty much the same thing: poor, homeless people and orphans. If you’re going to pay money for the paper anyways, you might as well help the guy out and buy it from him, plus you won’t even have to stop anywhere on your way to wherever to get it.

Then there’s the people that you have to wonder if they are really homeless or just lazy scam artists. I remember my high school government teacher telling me how he went to Washington D.C. one time (where they apparently also had a large homeless problem) and saw a guy on crutches begging for money on the side of the road. At the end of the day, he was driving back to his hotel and saw the same guy get up, throw his crutches in the back of his Ferrari, and drive off. Apparently panhandling in D.C. really pays off! Another friend of mine told me how she was downtown waiting for a tow truck after she was in an accident one time. The homeless guy who had been begging at the median came across and asked is she needed any help, after politely declining, she watched him walk into HIS HOUSE! The homeless man had a house! Another friend told me he saw a homeless man begging on one corner of he street, and on the corner across was a Flying J that had a “now hiring” sign. When he pointed this out to the homeless man, he just said “They wouldn’t pay me enough”!

Then there’s also plenty of cases of where they say they are starving, so you offer to buy them a cheeseburger or something and they politely decline saying they already have food. Well, then clearly they are not starving! This is why I won’t give money to any of them, you can’t tell who, if anyone, is legit! It’s sad that people are so lazy. I work a crappy job so I can pay my bills, I’m sure they can find something!

Then there’s also the countless bums walking around places like Ybor and downtown St. Pete. These bums are more scary I think. When you see them, you are generally not protected by your car. Then they tend to follow you around no matter how many times you protest and claim to only have plastic on you. Most of these guys just want beer money. If they were honest about it, I may even be tempted to help them out. But let’s be honest, I need beer money too! There are some homeless people that have a little more pride. They, like the waterboys and newsies, what to give you something in exchange for their money, so they give you whatever random things they collected, like seeds or bags full of condoms. Again, at least they are trying to help you out too.

I guess, when all is said and done, the homeless problem will never be as bad here as many other places. Still, if you want my money you have to work for it. Have a clever sign. Offer me something in exchange for my money. Show you are somehow going to ear my hard earned money. Don’t try to scam me, it insults my intelligence, and that is one thing I will not tolerate being insulted!

Here is what I reallized this week: Life is an adventure! My last post was all about remembering some of my best memories that I could think of. What about the ones that didn’t turn out as planned? What about the not so goo things that turned into great things, or at the very least a funny story?

For instance, one of my memories was my surprise party- but originally I was depressed because no one could come to the party I was trying so hard to plan for myself.

Or there’s the adventure that made me realize this in the first place. The other night, I got off work and was ready to go out when I couldn’t find my phone. I couldn’t find it anywhere in work, so I went to search my car one more time. Upon doing so, I locked my keys, and all my money, cards, etc. in my car. And all of this was without anything to drink! So I went back inside and everyone I work with was surprised how calm I was. What was I supposed to do? I’ve locked my keys in the car plenty of times before, I know I can get them out. My phone was a little more worrisome, but I have insurance on it, thankfully. My boss even offered to buy me a beer while I hung out and waited for my coworkers to get done. I took him up on the offer of course (I never pass on free beer!). I helped my coworkers close up so they could come help me with my car. We were trying to break-in with my antenna and an ice cream scoop. The other two guys decided to run to the store and buy a six-pack, we could have a little party in the parking lot! When they came back they informed us they had found a cop with a slim jim who would be by to help shortly. Meanwhile, we continued our method and drank some beers. The cops came out and were very nice. I’ve asked other cops to help me when I locked my keys in my car and they said they were not allowed to unless a pet or child was inside. By the time they got there, my 3 coworkers, my manager, and 4 or 5 of the cooks were there watching, some helping. I felt so special!

And while it sucks not having a phone for a few days, now I have a funny story to tell people!

And the moral of that story is: You can turn even some of the crappiest moments of life into a party. And I’m glad to have such nice coworkers and city police.

I think it’s time I do this again. It’s my life in song. The nature of a good song is that at any given time someone can completely relate to it and say “wow, it’s almost like that song was written for me!” There are so many songs that I can relate to in some way or another, but at any given time, certain ones tend to stick out even more. So, here is my life at this moment in five songs….

It’s that time of year again. The Holidays are piling on, everyone is working overtime, I’m fairly certain that almost all of my friends can relate to this song right now. Hey, we can sleep when we’re dead, right!

I’m fairly certain I used this one in my last post like this. Probably because it seriously fits me. Only my nails ARE painted black. And I only want to ride the mechanical bull:) Take notes boys…

I’ve tried a lot of things in my life, some I’m better at than others, but mostly I have fairly useless talents. Although I would like to thank everyone who has given me the chance lately to prove that I am actually intelligent and useful. But I do love the nightlife. And my Bud Light. (Although Guinness would be even better- but I don’t expect to find Guinness in a country song- until I write one 😉 )

This one is because I pretty much want to live in the music video. Also, no matter what, I want to dance.

This one is classic words of wisdom from a wise man- and also kinda the story of my life. So here’s to hoping one day I can trust…

In any case, I hope you liked your musical break for the day. I intend to do this every once in a while. For my [revious post like this, see… Life is Like A Country Song!

Want to make God laugh? Tell him your plans.
My life has become one giant crazy random happenstance.